CORPORATIONS SYLLABUS

PROF. CUNNNGHAM
FALL 2013

Description. This four-credit course provides students with a basic understanding
of the law that governs business corporations. Specific topics include: capitalization,
leverage, organization and authority, control, limited liability, dividends, fiduciary duties,
control transactions, derivative litigation, indemnification and insider trading.

Required Materials. The required casebook is CORPORATIONS AND OTHER BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS: CASES, MATERIALS, PROBLEMS by Linda O. Smiddy & Lawrence A.
Cunningham (7
th
ed. 2010). It will be necessary to consult statutory selections from two
principal sources, the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) and the Model
Business Corporation Act (MBCA). Links to both appear on the course web site (via the
GW portal). Throughout the semester, PowerPoint slides will be posted on the course web
site containing other material we will use during class.

Meetings. Class meetings, in Room LL101, are August 27, 2013 through
November 21, 2013 on Tuesday and Thursday, 1:40 p.m.to 3:40 p.m. We will take a mid-
meeting break during each session.

Class Rules. Classes may not be taped or recorded (exceptions are considered on
request by email due to extraordinary circumstances such as deaths in the family or student
illness). Student use of any electronic equipment during class is prohibited, with the
exception of devices being used to store and/or take notes related to the class. A seating
chart will be completed in the first days of class, and students must sit in elected seats
during all classes.

Office Hours. My office is Stuart Hall 408. My office hours are Tuesday and
Thursday 11:00 to 12:00. You can send me an e-mail, lacunningham@law.gwu.edu,
seeking an appointment at other times. You can pose queries by e-mail concerning the
class but, given the complexity and subtlety of the courses subject matter (and all of legal
studies), in-person communications are usually better. For those opting to communicate by
email, please note that I reserve the right to share email correspondence (on an anonymous
basis) with the entire class when doing so would benefit the entire class.

Evaluations. Grades are based on the final examination administered at the end of
the semester. Grades can be improved by distinguished class contributions to class
discussion. Examination is multiple-choice and open-book. A set of sample questions and
answers will be posted on the course web site.

Assignments. The assignments follow, organized by class meeting. We should be
able to adhere to the schedule closely, though some variation may arise due to current
events and/or class discussion. Pacing in the earlier half of the course may also warrant
adjustments to the assignment list during the latter half of the course. Any such
adjustments will be reported in class and referenced on a supplemental assignment listed
posted on the course web site.

Additional Optional Reading. WARREN E. BUFFETT & LAWRENCE A. CUNNINGHAM,
THE ESSAYS OF WARREN BUFFETT: LESSONS FOR CORPORATE AMERICA (Carolina
Academic Press) (advanced materials, written in accessible format, containing famed
investor Warren Buffetts letters to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, assembled by
Prof. Cunningham); WILLIAM A. KLEIN & JOHN C. COFFEE, JR., BUSINESS ORGANIZATION
AND FINANCE (Foundation Press) (intermediate level materials providing theory and policy
from economic perspective); ALAN R. PALMITER, CORPORATIONS: EXAMPLES AND
EXPLANATIONS (West Group) (elementary level introduction to basics of corporate law
from doctrinal perspective with illustrations).

ASSIGNMENTS
CORPORATIONS / PROF. CUNNINGHAM
FALL 2013
No. Date Topic / Cases Casebook Notes / Statutes
1 8/27 Agency
Cargill, Tarnowski
Partnership
Holmes
24-31
(skip n.8 @ p. 28)
66-69
71-87
As background, read: 1-15; 18-23;
226-234
2 8/29 Hybrids: LLPs/LLCs
Elf Atochem, VGS
148-154
154-160 (skim)
160-170
187-191

3 9/3 Incorporation / Internal Affairs
Doctrine
McArthur; Vantagepoint
234-253 MBCA 2.01-2.04, 3.01-3.02, 3.04,
7.32, 8.01
DGCL 102; 141(a)
4 9/5 Capitalization
Toms, Hanewald
255-280 MBCA 6.01, 6.21
DGCL 152-154, 244
5 9/10 Leverage
Obre, Fett Roofing
Preemptive Rights; Buyouts
Katzowitz, Denkins
280-283 (skim)
284-305
MBCA 6.30
DGCL 102(b)(3)
6 9/12 Organization
Roach, Datapoint,
Paulek, Jones
307-328 MBCA 2.05-2.06, 8.01, 8.40
DGCL 106-109, 211, 228

7 9/17 Shareholder Authority
Gashwiler, Seinfeld
342-360 MBCA 7.01-7.02, 7.04-7.05, 8.01,
10.22, 16.01-16.03
DGCL 113, 141(a), 220
8 9/19 Director and Officer Authority
(Manson), Molasky,
Anderson, Drive In,
First Securities
360-366 (skim)
367-383
MBCA 8.01, 8.03, 8.20-8.21, 8.24-
8.25, 8.41
DGCL 141(a)-(b)
9 9/24

Shareholder Control
Auer, Campbell,
Hall, Lehrman, Ramos
391-408
439-451
MBCA 7.27-7.28, 8.04-8.06, 8.08,
8.24, 10.01
DGCL 141(d), 141(k), 214
(Recall Vantagepoint)
10 9/26 Oppression
Donahue, Kemp & Beatley,
Nixon
408-418
423-439
457-459
MBCA 7.30-7.32, 14.02, 14.30
DGCL 218, 341-342, 348, 350-351,
355
11 10/1 Veil Piercing
Baatz, Walkovszky,
Sea-Land, Bestfoods
461-471
471-474 (skim)
474-492
MBCA 6.22
12 10/3 Dividends
Klang, Kamin
Duty of Care
Frances

493-500
501-509 (skim)
509-518
520-529
MBCA 1.40(6), 6.31, 6.40, 8.30, 8.33
DGCL 154, 160, 170, 173, 174

13 10/8 Duty of Care
Caremark
Business Judgment Rule
(Joy); Smith v. Van Gorkum
529-542
542-548 (skim)
548-563
MBCA 8.30-8.31, 8.42
14 10/10 Constituencies
Shlensky v. Wrigley
Exculpation
Arnold, Malpiede, WLR
563-582 MBCA 2.02(b)(4), 8.31(a)
DGCL 102(b)(7)
Va. Code 13.1-690(A) (p. 572)
15 10/15 Duty of Loyalty
Lewis
Safe Harbors
Marciano, Benihana
583-604 MBCA 8.60-8.63
DGCL 144

16 10/17 Good Faith
Disney, Stone
606-625
17 10/22 Executive Compensation
Tyson Foods, Ryan
Corporate Opportunity Doctrine
Broz, Northeast Harbor
626-640
640-658
MBC 8.70
ALI 5.05 (casebook pp. 655-656)

18 10/24 Controlling Shareholder Duties
Sinclair, Perlman
Cash Out Mergers
Weinberger, Glassman
660-689
[in Weinberger
ignore 2 on p.
673]

DGCL 251(a), 253(a) & (d)
MBCA 11.05
19 10/29 De Facto Merger Doctrine
Farris, Hariton, (Knapp)
Takeover Defenses
Cheff
699-709
709-714 (skim)
714-722
MBCA 11.01-11.04; 12.01-12.02
DGCL 271
20 10/31 Intermediate Scrutiny
Unocal, Revlon
722-739
21 11/5 Sale of Control
Time, QVC
739-768
22 11/7 Deal Protection
Ace, Omnicare, Lyondell
768-791 DGCL 146; MBCA 8.26
www.concurringopinions.com/
archives/2009/03/delaware_back_t.html
23 11/12 Derivative Litigation
Aronson, Auerbach, Zapata
793-824 MBCA 7.42, 7.44

24 11/14 Indemnification & Insurance
Waltuch I, Heffernan,
Waltuch II
835-859 DGCL 145
MBCA 8.51-8.52
25 11/19 Insider Trading
Freeman, Chiarella,
Materia, Dirks,
OHagan
927-932
965-977

26 11/21 Q&A